Crack cocaine comes from powder cocaine. Powder cocaine is dissolved in a solution of sodium bicarbonate and water. This is boiled, usually on a spoon, and a solid substance separates out - crack - which is removed and allowed to dry.
This is then broken or cut into "rocks", each typically weighing from one-tenth to a half a gram. Crack rocks are 75-90 per cent pure cocaine giving users an intense high. Because crack is smoked, the high is experienced in less than 10 seconds.
An all-Ireland study of drug trends published 12 months ago showed that crack cocaine was already being used in all but three of the 10 former health board areas. But 0.4 per cent of the 8,442 people surveyed for the study between October 2002 and April 2003 said they had used the drug at some point in their lives.
